A differential tube-based model for predicting the linear viscoelastic moduli of polydisperse entangled linear polymers

Adrien Leygue (1) , Christian Bailly (1) , Roland Keunings (1)

1 CESAME - Centre for systems engineering and applied mechanics [Louvain]

We present a simple tube theory for topologically linear entangled polymers that accounts for reptation, contour-length fluctuations and thermal constraint release. This theory is based on a new differential formulation of the thermal constraint release phenomenon proposed by the authors [A.Leygue, C.Bailly, R.Keunings, A differential formulation of thermal constraint release for entangled polymers, J.Non Newtonian Fluid Mech. 128 (1) (2005) 23–28] which is extended here to account for contour-length fluctuations. We apply the theory to mono- and poly-disperse polystyrene melts and demonstrate its ability to produce quantitative predictions. Additionally, we discuss a mathematically linear approximation of our approach that preserves the structure of the model. While most quantitative tube theories for predicting linear viscoelasticity are mathematically non-linear, our approach allows one to address the linear viscoelastic response of a polydisperse entangled system with a mathematically linear theory.

Mots clés: Entangled linear polymers; Linear visco-elasticity; Polymer mixtures

Domaines: Mécanique [physics.med-ph]; Matériaux

Adrien Leygue, Christian Bailly, Roland Keunings. A differential tube-based model for predicting the linear viscoelastic moduli of polydisperse entangled linear polymers. Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics, 2006, 133 (1), pp.28-34. ⟨10.1016/j.jnnfm.2005.10.003⟩. ⟨hal-01004701⟩